Nellie McKay: Biography

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• Discography
• Biography
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Birth Name:

Eleanora Marie

Born:

Apr 13, 1984 in London, England

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music, Singer/Songwriter Rock Music, Adult Alternative

Decades Active:

2000's

Get Away From Me, the title of singer/songwriter Nellie McKay's debut album, is a play on two titles by romantic female vocalists who became popular in the early 2000s: Norah Jones' Come Away With Me and Jane Monheit's Come Dream With Me. But while McKay shares some of Jones and Monheit's influencesvocal jazz, cabaret, traditional prerock pop, torch singingand has some things in common with them melodically, it would be a huge mistake to lump her in with Jones, Monheit and Diana Krall. Those jazz or jazzinfluenced pop artists tend to be romantically comforting, whereas McKay's lyrics can be every bit as cutting, edgy and biting as Alanis Morissette or Pinkand to lump McKay in with Jones, Monheit and Krall ignores the fact that her work is distinctive and impressively unorthodox. McKay (who is also a talented pianist) brings an unlikely combination of influences to her work, which isn't easy to categorize. The New York City resident is relevant to poprock, but she is also relevant to cabaret, traditional pop and vocal jazz. Tin Pan Alley, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, Annie Ross, Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday have affected her writing (either directly or indirectly), but so have Randy Newman (a frequent comparison), the Beatles and hiphop. McKay, in fact, shares Newman's penchant for lyrics that are cynical and sarcastic as well as darkhumored; like Newman, McKay knows how to laugh at the world even when she's complaining about how screwed up it isand she can be incredibly clever and witty.

McKay was born in London, England on April 13, 1984 but has spent most of her life in the United States. At the age of two, McKay (an only child) moved with her mother (actress Robin Pappas) to New York Cityand the two of them lived in Manhattan's Harlem section until 1994, when they moved west to Olympia, WA. After that, they lived in the Poconos in northeastern Pennsylvania, but in 2000, they returned to NYC so that McKay could attend the Manhattan School of Music. After dropping out, McKay briefly flirted with standup comedy but gave it up and made music her primary focus. McKay began performing around Manhattan in the early 2000s, and for awhile, she was managed by folkrocker Lach (who often booked her at the Sidewalk Café in the East Village). McKay's gigs at Manhattan clubs like the Sidewalk Café and the Fez earned her a small East Coast following, and in 2003, she signed with Columbia/Sony at the age of 19. Other labels had expressed interest in the precocious artist, including Virgin and BlueNote, but she felt that Columbia had the greatest understanding of her musical vision. Nonetheless, McKay had some creative differences with the label; she wanted to call her debut album either Black America or Penis Envy, and Columbia didn't like either idea. But eventually, McKay and Columbia agreed on the title Get Away From Me. Produced and engineered by Geoff Emerickwho is best known for his work with the BeatlesGet Away from Me was released in February 2004.

- Alex Henderson, All Music Guide